Twenty-five years ago, Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson signed the first charter school bill into law as part of a larger Omnibus Education Funding Bill.

Today nearly three million students attend 6800 charter public schools. See our 25th Anniversary Page for more on this historic marker.

Ember Reichgott Junge, the Minnesota state senator who authored the first charter school law, candidly shares her personal and challenging journey of pioneering chartering through its early origins, its tumultuous legislative passage in Minnesota, and its explosion onto the national stage. With never-before-published historical documents and first-person accounts by supporters and opponents, this book informs both the past and future of public education. It is an eye-opening and stimulating inside look at policy making. Zero Chance of Passage is the seminal reference on the history of this unique and inspiring redesign of public education.

“In Zero Chance of Passage, Ember Reichgott Junge delivers a fascinating and detailed account of the bipartisan movement to revive the American education system” - PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, Founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States